Illicit Drug Use Among School-Going Adolescents in Malaysia

Abstract

Illicit drug use among adolescents has become a public health issue in Malaysia. This study was from the Global School-Based Student Health Survey (GSHS) and aimed to determine the prevalence of and factors associated with illicit drug use among school-going adolescents in Malaysia. A 2-stage stratified cluster sampling method was used and data were collected via a self-administered questionnaire. A total of 25 507 students participated in the study. The prevalence of adolescents who ever used illicit drugs was 1.7%. Adolescents who ever used illicit drugs were associated with current smoking (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 6.99; 95% CI = 5.19, 9.40), current alcohol use (aOR = 4.63; 95% CI = 3.43, 6.26), ever having sex (aOR = 4.76; 95% CI = 3.54, 6.41), truancy (aOR = 1.43; 95% CI = 1.07, 1.90), lack of peer support (aOR = 1.47; 95% CI = 1.07, 2.03), and lack of parental monitoring (aOR = 1.71; 95% CI = 1.22, 2.39). Public health intervention should be addressed to prevent illicit drug used among adolescents.

Keywords

illicit drug use Global School Health Survey GSHS adolescent health public health Malaysia

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

United Nation Office on Drugs and Crime. World Drug Report. New York, NY: United Nations; 2007.

Gore

Bloem

Patton

. Global burden of disease in young people aged 10-24 years: a systematic analysis. Lancet. 2011;377:2093-2102.

Gray

. Marijuna use, withdrawal and craving in adolescents. Psychiatric Times. November 1, 2007. http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/articles/marijuana-use-withdrawal-and-craving-adolescents. Accessed December 5, 2013.

Farrell

Marshall

. Epidemiology of tobacco, alcohol and drug use. Psychiatry. 2006;5:427-430.

Pengpid

Peltzer

. Prevalence and psychosocial correlates of illicit drug use among school-going adolescents in Thailand. J Soc Sci. 2013;34:269-275.

National Anti-Narcotics Agency. Drug Report Jan-Dec 2012. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: National Anti Narcotics Agency; 2012.

Hanna

Dufour

Whitmore

. The relationship of early-onset regular smoking to alcohol use, depression, illicit drug use, and other risky behaviors during early adolescence: results from the youth supplement to the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. J Subst Abuse. 2001;13:265-282.

Degenhardt

Hall

. Extent of illicit drug use and dependence, and their contribution to the global burden of disease. Lancet. 2012;379:55-70.

Reid

Elifson

Sterk

. Hug drug or thug drug? Ecstasy use and aggressive behavior. Violence Vict. 2007;22:104-119.

10.

Fauziah

Mohamad

Chong

Abd Manaf

. Substance abuse and aggressive behavior among adolescents. Asian Soc Sci. 2012;8(9):92-97.

11.

Han

Gfroerer

Colliver

. Associations between duration of illicit drug use and health conditions: results from the 2005-2007 national surveys on drug use and health. Ann Epidemiol. 2010;20:289-297.

12.

Kokkevi

Arapaki

Richardson

Florescu

Kuzman

Stergar

. Further investigation of psychological and environmental correlates of substance use in adolescence in six European countries. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2007;88:308-312.

13.

Rudatsikira

Maposa

Mukandavire

Muula

Siziya

. Prevalence and predictors of illicit drug use among school-going adolescents in Harare, Zimbabwe. Ann Afr Med. 2009;8:215-220.

14.

Sattah

Supawitkul

Dondero

. Prevalence of and risk factors for methamphetamine use in northern Thai youth: results of an audio-computer-assisted self-interviewing survey with urine testing. Addiction. 2002;97:801-808.

15.

Lau

Kan

. Prevalence and correlates of problem behaviours among adolescents in Hong Kong. Asia Pac J Public Health. 2010;22:354-364.

16.

Kokkevi

Richardson

Florescu

Kuzman

Stergar

. Psychosocial correlates of substance use in adolescence: a cross-national study in six European countries. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2007;86:67-74.

17.

Sherman

Sutcliffe

German

Sirirojn

Aramrattana

Celentano

. Patterns of risky behaviors associated with methamphetamine use among young Thai adults: a latent class analysis. J Adolesc Health. 2009;44:169-175.

18.

Bahr

Hoffmann

Yang

. Parental and peer influences on the risk of adolescent drug use. J Prim Prev. 2005;26:529-551.

19.

National Anti-Narcotics Agency. National Drug Information System 2009. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: National Anti Narcotics Agency; 2009.

20.

World Health Organization. Global School-Based Student Health Survey. http://www.who.int/chp/gshs/methodology/en/index.html. Accessed December 5, 2013.

21.

Fadhli

Riyanti

Balkish

. Methodology of the National School-Based Health Survey in Malaysia, 2012. Asia Pac J Public Health. 2014;26:9S-17S.

22.

SPSS version 21. New York, NY: SPSS IBM.

23.

Educational Planning and Research Division. Malaysia Educational Statistics 2012. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: Ministry of Education Malaysia; 2012.

24.

Mohamed

Marican

Elias

Don

. Pattern of substance and drug misuse among youth in Malaysia. Jurnal Antidadah Malays. 2008;3(4):1-56.

25.

Ministry of Health & Quality of Life, Mauritius. Global School-Based Student Health Survey 2007 Country Report Republic of Mauritius. Mauritius: Ministry of Health & Quality of Life; 2007.

26.

Public Health Institute. Global School-Based Student Health Survey Mongolia 2010. Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia: Public Health Institute; 2010.

27.

Country Report of Malaysia. Fifth Meeting of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA). Singapore; ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly; 2008.

28.

The Commissioner of Law Revision, Malaysia. Dangerous Drug Act 1952 (Revised 1980) (Act 234). Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: Percetakan Nasional Berhad; 2006.

29.

Brook

Morojele

Pahl

Brook

. Predictors of drug use among South African adolescents. J Adolesc Health. 2006;38:26-34.

30.

Lee

Paul

Kam

Jagmohni

. Smoking among secondary school students in Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia. Asia Pac J Public Health. 2005;17:130-136.

31.

Alwan

Viswanathan

Rousson

Paccaud

Bovet

. Association between substance use and phychosocial characteristics among adolescents of the Seychelles. BMC Pediatr. 2011;11(85):1-8.

32.

Martins

Storr

Alexandre

Chilcoat

. Adolescent ecstasy and other drug use in the National Survey of Parents and Youth: the role of sensation-seeking, parental monitoring and peer’s drug use. Addict Behav. 2008;33:919-933.